Graham Mayeda
M.A., Ph.D. (Philosophy, Toronto), J.D. (Toronto), of the Bar of Ontario.
Graham Mayeda joined the Faculty of Law at the
University of
Ottawa in 2005. His current research focuses on theories of global justice, law and development, criminal law, and legal philosophy. He began his academic career in philosophy, in which he received both M.A. and Ph.D. degrees from the
University of
Toronto. His thesis dealt with the relationship between twentieth-century East Asian and European philosophy. In particular, he studied the way in which modern Japanese thinkers articulate ethical concepts inherited from Buddhist and Confucian traditions in the language of contemporary Western philosophy. This research led him to appreciate the importance of cultural, political and social difference to ethics.
Graham’s legal career began at the
University of
Toronto, where he completed his J.D. in 2004. He has been a law clerk to the Hon. Madam Justice Louise Charron at the Supreme Court of Canada in 2004-2005, and he was called to the Bar of Ontario in July of 2005. Since switching fields to law, Graham has continued to explore the importance of difference in various legal contexts. His recent work has focused on the impact of international trade and investment law on developing countries. He has begun a new project on theories of global justice, which aims at articulating a concept of global justice that takes into account the diverse perspectives of developing countries. He is also interested in the impact of cultural, socio-economic, racial and gender difference in Canadian criminal law. In the context of private law, he has studied the nature of common law reasoning, which has a unique ability to accommodate difference, although historically it has also excluded it.
Graham is also very involved in legal advocacy. In November, 2006, he was elected to the Board of Directors of the Income Security Advocacy Centre (ISAC). ISAC is a legal aid clinic established by Legal Aid Ontario in 2001 to conduct test-case litigation for low-income residents of
Ontario (http://www.incomesecurity.org/). Graham has also been involved in litigation with dimensions of both criminal and environmental law. He is currently doing legal consulting for the Commonwealth Secretariat on international investment agreements and developing countries.
In his spare time, Graham practices Japanese and Chinese calligraphy. He likes to swim and to bike. He also practices at the White Wind Zen Centre in Ottawa (http://www.wwzc.org).
For Graham's complete c.v., see Mayeda -- CV -- summer 2010.
You can access some of my research on SSRN at: http://ssrn.com/author=517105
